As to income distribution: that’s the OECD’s estimate of the median household. So it’s not being skewed up by super-rich households.
As to bankruptcies, less than 0.5% of households file for bankruptcy in a given year.
As to homicide or suicide rate: again, that affects a tiny minority. Meanwhile, the much higher income affects 60-70% of the whole population.
The U.K. is a society where you’ve lowered the median to lift up the floor. That’s one way to do it. And I don’t even disagree with you that the US should do more in that regard. But if you support an expanded welfare state (and I do), it’s dishonest to sell that policy to people by pretending that the average person is going to be better off. Unless they place a very high value on security (avoiding low probability outcomes like medical bankruptcy) over material comfort, they’re going to be worse off.
As to income distribution: that’s the OECD’s estimate of the median household. So it’s not being skewed up by super-rich households.
As to bankruptcies, less than 0.5% of households file for bankruptcy in a given year.
As to homicide or suicide rate: again, that affects a tiny minority. Meanwhile, the much higher income affects 60-70% of the whole population.
The U.K. is a society where you’ve lowered the median to lift up the floor. That’s one way to do it. And I don’t even disagree with you that the US should do more in that regard. But if you support an expanded welfare state (and I do), it’s dishonest to sell that policy to people by pretending that the average person is going to be better off. Unless they place a very high value on security (avoiding low probability outcomes like medical bankruptcy) over material comfort, they’re going to be worse off.